Canada's Best Diversity Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 15
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CITY OF SASKATOON
CANADA’S BEST DIVERSITY EMPLOYERS (2025)
City of Saskatoon is developing an Indigenous recruitment strategy with community partners and recently hosted a dedicated career fair for Indigenous candidates.
The Rise of the ERG
Employee resource groups are sprouting everywhere among Canada’s Best Diversity Employers
I
f you’re still working on getting your
first job, or you’re outside the
corporate workforce, you may never
have heard of an ERG. But the rise of
the employee resource group, or ERG, is
one of the most notable trends of recent
years among Canada’s Best Diversity
Employers (2025).
These bodies, sometimes also known as
affinity groups or business resource
groups, bring together employees who
have similar backgrounds or interests.
Most commonly, they connect people at
the organization who identify in various
ways – possibly by race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation or ability. Some sample names
from winners of Canada’s Best Diversity
Employers: Advancement of Women in
Leadership, Proud, Embrace Your Roots,
and Diversability.
The groups usually hold events and
social activities (even book clubs) related
to their group and meet in person or
online with varying degrees of informality.
Almost always, ERGs are started and run
by the employees themselves, but many
have executive sponsors who listen to their
points about how the organization could
be improved in its approach to members.
Kristina Leung, managing editor at
Mediacorp Canada, which runs the
Canada’s Best Diversity Employers (2025)
competition, has observed the trend and
its usefulness to employers. “Along with
providing community, organizations
increasingly leverage ERGs to use for
feedback, for developing training, or if
they want to ensure that the ERGs have a
formal voice to talk about policies. It
provides a more direct line to the
management structure through a sort of
self-governing, employee-based group.”
And they’re great for employees,
personally and professionally. “They play
an important role in retention, ensuring
that folks have a sense of community, and
can contribute to a larger sense of
belonging and an inclusive culture,” says
Leung. “It’s important for employees to
feel that they can have a hands-on impact
in that way.”
– Berton Woodward
